Dylan St. Cyr is focused on playing this season between the pipes for Notre Dame.

So what was the 5-9 Northville High School alum doing playing the final two periods of Sunday’s first annual Stars & Stripes Showdown at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth?

“I was a late addition,” said St. Cyr, 19, who played two seasons for the U.S. National Team Development Program. “We had the (Warren) Strelow (goalie) camp here and Jimmy (Howard) asked me, so obviously I couldn’t turn that down.”

With that invitation to be part of the benefit game honoring legendary USA Hockey executive Jim Johannson, who passed away unexpectedly in January at age 53, the heartbeat started racing a little faster for St. Cyr. The game had been billed as a matchup of the top American players, and a number of NHL stalwarts participated.

“For sure, in our locker room looking to my left and right, Jimmy Howard and Patrick Kane just to name a couple key guys that were here,” St. Cyr noted. “But obviously, every one of these guys are NHL all-star caliber players. So it was pretty special, but definitely nerve-wracking.”

Howard, the veteran Detroit Red Wings netminder and also a NTDP alum, played the first period for Team Blue, giving up three goals. When the teams came out for the second period, it was the diminutive St. Cyr heading in the direction of the net.

And the acrobatic St. Cyr stood on his Notre Dame-gold goalie helmet. On one shot, he stretched as far as he could to reach behind him and used his stick to bat the puck away as it slid over the goal line.

He jumped up and got a catching glove on another blast. He also looked like Dominic Hasek with his penchant for extreme bending and flexing.

“I thought one was pretty cool, to throw back the paddle,” St. Cyr said. Obviously you need a little luck, but in games like that you’re going to get those bounces when you’re working hard. That was something that was pretty fun for me.”

St. Cyr said he was honored to get the late invite.

“For me it was being out here, playing for the purpose of charity, for Jim Johannson,” St. Cyr noted. “Just being able to come out here and get in a game situation is really special and I really appreciate it.”

But now he’s making the return trip to Notre Dame to resume preparation for the 2018-19 Big Ten men’s hockey season.

“It was pretty special just to be back here,” he continued. “Being able to be back in this rink and throwing on that USA jersey was a pretty special moment.

“... I was not trying to think too much about who was out there playing because obviously we have some special players. Just going out there and trying to play my game.”

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